By Abiola Olawale
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has extended the suspension of flights from Nigeria (Lagos and Abuja) from February 28 to March 10.
The UAE Aviation authorities had earlier suspended all Nigerian flights following the ban on the operations of Emirates Airlines by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), over the Rapid Antigen Test (RDT) requirement, mandated by the airline.
The UAE aviation authorities in a statement made available on the official website of the Emirates Airline, the flag carrier of the UAE, announced the extension of the suspension of Nigerian flights.
The statement reads: “In line with government directives, passenger services from Nigeria (Lagos and Abuja) to Dubai are temporarily suspended until 10 March 2021. Customers from both Abuja and Lagos will not be accepted for travel prior to or including this date. Passengers who have been to or connected through Nigeria in the last 14 days are not allowed entry into the UAE (whether terminating in or connecting through Dubai).
“Emirates flights from Dubai to Lagos and Abuja will continue to operate as per the normal schedule. We regret the inconvenience caused, and affected customers should contact their booking agent or Emirates call centre for rebooking. Emirates remains committed to Nigeria, and we look forward to resuming passenger services to Dubai for our customers when conditions allow.”
Recall Emirates suspended its flights a few days after the Federal Government through NCAA sanctioned the airline for the introduction of Rapid Antigen Test as a requirement for Dubai travellers.
Director-General of the NCAA, Capt. Musa Nuhu, had on February 4, 2021 placed an order restricting the operations of the Emirates Airlines for demanding the RDT test from passengers, stating that the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test, done 72 hours from date of departure of passengers, is the only recognized test by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19.
However, the NCAA lifted the suspension placed on Emirates Airlines operations, following the agreement of Emirates Airline to suspend the RDT. Nuhu while announcing the lifting of the ban said, “the public is hereby informed as follows: Emirates Airlines no longer requires passengers to carry out pre-depature RDT.”
